Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Amona. It hurts so bad. (Updated)

As I write this, the events at Amona are taking place 30 minutes from me. I don't feel like watching it on TV, and I already have a sinking feeling in my stomach, that I know exactly what's happening there.

I just found the following quote from Israel's Channel 2 TV reporter, Roni Daniel -- he's on the scene as I type.

He's not a fan of the right, or the settlers...but this is what he had to say about the police violence:

"The police are violently hitting the settlers, with extreme brutality. The blows are totally unnecessary, and they are striking them just to blow off steam. There is no reason for it at all; its superfluous. The police's activity on the rooftops needs to be examined. All the violence here is needless."

MK Effi Eitam was wounded by the police....he's on his way for a CT now at Hadassah hospital.

MK Arye Eldad's arm was broken by the police...and he fainted.

MDA reports close to 200 settlers wounded...There are reports that a policeman is wounded as well.

Protestor thrown out of window by Police.

I'm not going to write about Amona's housing...or whether or not Jews have a right to build in Israel...or if the settlers are right or wrong...or if the police are doing what they need to do or not.

UPDATED with more horrible pictures.

I will write, that Ehud Olmert and the Israeli government have succeeded in bringing about this terrible situation to its current state. They wanted violence, they want the world to see our pain, they wanted this Chilul Hashem for all to see.

And it hurts so bad.

UPDATED: I wrote this into a comment, and then decided it should be here as well.

The tragedy of the situation is the demonization of the settlers and the movement to settle the land.

This isn't a game of improving one's quality of life, owning a bigger home or ruling over another people.

The Jews of Amona and their supporters are motivated exclusively by a deep passion and love for Eretz Yisrael.

Their entire ideology and way of life is being targeted by the Israeli government and media as the enemy of the state.

Its tragic that Olmert is alienating one of Israel's most dedicated population segments.

Instead of learning from this summer, he's exacerbating the issues and rallying the media and people of Israel against their own brothers.

46 comments:

That's what was going thru my mind as well.. I think, is this not a chillul Hashem to show Jew vs. Jew, the G-dless VS the G-d fearing?

Worst off, Olmert and Kadima along with the Left have been demonizing the religious for so long, they are too blame for everything.

They have LITERALLY made being a "settler" worse than a terrorist in the Israeli media?

My only question is, when do the Tel-Aviv Jews wake up from their slumber? How many more people have to die? How many more people have to mourn for the dead?

This non-Jewish guy left a message on my blog today, he said, "muslims came at you folks with the same mentality of extermination the gestapo had...How can a goy sort of guy see this and so many Jews don't?"

Boy am I glad not to be involved anymore. I think Olmert is only doing this to help get more votes for Kadima. Your undecided Jew will see what the "terrible" settlers are doing and only want to help sqaush us like bugs.

Being a "Settler" in the last decade has definately been considered worse than being a terrorist.

When I saw the second picture, it instantly reminded me of the video clip of lynching in Ramalla in October of 2000. All that's needed for complete similarity would be the smiling and the bloody hands of the policemen to completely top it off.

I want to post a comment along the lines of how this is obviously in the hands of HaShem and for reasons that we cannot understand, this is happening. And even though deep down I know that must be the truth, it's hard to accept it when you see it happening.

The governments doing an excellent hasbara job, CBS reported this morning that some settlers and some police were injured. Making the damage seem about equal.It's a sickness.Jerusalem Cop's last sentence is sad but true for much of the Left.

Jameel, I fully share in how very distressing this is, and feel only much pain and sadness seeing these horrific pictures of Jews fighting Jews. Especially if this is due to government orders of excessive force. That cannot fail to sicken anyone.

I would venture, however, that Olmert is not the only leader who hasn't learned from the traumatic experiences of the summer.

Why does ynet make it sound like the poor police are being brutalized by the demonic crazed 15 year olds? Is this the type of attitude going around by most of the media? http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3209509,00.html

I still can't believe that those are Israeli soldiers, fellow Jews, who are carrying out these horrible acts. That hurts me the most. That Jews can hurt one another in that way. I think we need to look harder to see who our true enemies are.

jameel,I was there for 2 days.. i was on the roof of house #2, my roomate took a few hundred pix.. I was wondering why jameel wasent there.. there was over 150 paramedics and EMT's..it was nasty nasty stuff.. every minute the cry went up "chovesh!" they were rushing in stretchers every second.. guys bleeding from their heads.. broken hands and legs..

commanders were just as bad as their troops basically giving them a free hand..

as i was walking out they started smashing me out of nowhere! a paramedic that tried helping me was bashed.. they wouldent let them take me into the medical tent.

oh and another thing.. the 250 injured is those that were carried out on stretchers... alot were bandaged on the scene. i say 500 were injured which dosent include those that were smashed up without geting bloody.

After the Hitnatkut, I felt as I had been slapped in the face. I cried for days, nights, as Im sure many others did. But this?This atrocity?Jews not only expelling other Jews but wounding them as well?How can I continue to hope for such a broken nation?

After the Hitnatkut, I felt as I had been slapped in the face. I cried for days, nights, as Im sure many others did. But this?This atrocity?Jews not only expelling other Jews but wounding them as well?How can I continue to hope for such a broken nation?

must gum addict brings up an interesting point..."this is obviously in the hands of HaShem and for reasons that we cannot understand, this is happening."however, we were all given free will. why some choose to use it for evil and not good, is beyond me. israel is our homeland, we need to start acting like it. why give the world more reason to criticize us? and also, now that hamas is in power, why should olmert feel compelled to give ANYTHING to the "palestinians" at this point?aarrrgggh.

I don't know what to say. I just hate seeing a Jew against a Jew. I mean, there are all sorts of arguments you can make about various aspects of this situation, but right now my response is purely emotional. I'll leave it up to lawmakers to reason. : (

Do the blind chazerim in the GOI truly believe that this crazed campaign of expulsion can lead to any good end for Israel?

Is it their perception, those well-dressed and seemingly ever-ignorant MKs and their ilk, that there are not enough voices clamoring for the destruction of Jews and Judaism? Do they truly feel that by joining the new sly and pernicious chorus of "I'm not anti-Jew; I'm anti-Settler!" that they are not aligning themselves with what is worst in the world - and with what proudly states its intention to crush Israel in stone and in spirit?

Have these shameless "leaders", who sent the Yasamnikim, Mishmar HaGvul, Mishtarah, and every other available agent of force (this during a time when the Land is LITERALLY surrounded by dangerous and overtly hostile foes, who enter the country and get away with endless attempts - sometimes successful - to murder Jews) to unhome and brutalize their fellow Israelis, bought YET AGAIN the delusion that peace with hate-filled mass murderers can be acheived through "diplomacy"?

Where but from G-d can the strength come from to face this evil forthrightly?

Refuah Shlemah to everyone who was hurt standing up for Am, Torah, V'Eretz, and also to the dangerously misguided agents of the government who failed to see the wrongness of this action and so perpetrated ugly crimes. As they heal and refresh, may the righteous residents return to their struggle filled with determination and belief, and may the soldiers and officers soon find their way to know what is right that they may serve us and G-d better than they did today.

I read a sad comment in the JPost from a gentleman who will be making yeridah with his wife after recent events (read: HAMAS' new legitimization). May they be well; may many many others find the ferocity and faith to stay where they are in Eretz Yisrael.

And may we all speedily merit redemption - though to be truthful, looking at these horrible images once again, it seems as though we have a long way to go.

I just came home from class and my husband told me what's going on. Horrible. This is a nightmare. I read in Haaretz that police were beating women and children and people just sitting down in a house. Madness. Refuash Shlemah to those injured. My prayers are with them.

I am sick.ThE WORST PART i SAW WERE THE HORSES PLOWING IN AND THEIR RIDERS SWINGING CLUBS.For this I came on aliyah?aND THEY WILL GET AWAY WITH IT--THE MAJORITY in Israel don't care.-and as Jameel stated we are demonized.

olmert and his center foolishly think that pulling back and unilaterally declaring the borders will end the conflict with the enemy.he made this bet with the blood of the settler.but he is bringing the battle straight to tel aviv.who will be for me?

Jameel, just caught up on your last several great posts. And you're right, what's happening in Amona is terrible. I was watching some of the footage yesterday and was shocked at the police's behavior. Obviously they have a very hard job to do there, but some of their actions were definitely over the line- I understand that Effi Eitam wasn't even on a rooftop, he was just standing on the ground. Why was there a need to crack his head open?

Jameel, my husband is going to post his reactions later, but I have to say I'm very dissapointed in you. I haven't heard from you in a while. I wanted to update you on my sister-in-law's situation since it's a complete mess, and I know I can talk to you about it. Secondly, after all we've been through (;-p), I'm not on your blogroll? That's just sad. I thought we had a better relationship than that.-OC